Scars
by wabun-ahnung
Summary: AU: The war has been avoided. The next set of dependants are now of age to go through the process of choosing their faction. What happens when another Abnegation dependant chooses Dauntless? Who is she? Why is her body full of scars? Disclaimer: Mention of self-harm, sexual assault and suicide. Read at your own risk. OC. OC/Eric. Normal Pairings. Eventual Fourtris.
1. Chapter 1

_One year ago…_

Last night had been the last day of Initiation where it was announced that Tris Prior had come in first place. This morning, she found herself walking onto the Leadership floor to meet with Ryder, the leader responsible with meeting with all new members of Dauntless to assign them with new living quarters and jobs. In Dauntless, the job they chose determine their living quarters and as top of her class, she had first pick.

"You must be Tris" a man with blue hair greeted her, he sat behind a desk right in front of the elevator.

She glanced around briefly to see that there were four doors on one side of the corridor with a person sitting behind a desk in front of three of the doors, the last door had a desk as well, but no one sat behind it. She smirked knowing fully well that the empty one must be Eric's door. On the other side of the corridor stood a glass wall which showed a conference room with a large table and several seats and at the end of the hallway, there was another door which she quickly assumed that was the Head Leader's office. He, too, had someone sitting behind a desk in front of his door.

"Yes" she answered.

"I'm Kane, the secretary" he introduced himself as he stood up and held his hand out for her with a smirk.

She nodded and shook his hand. There was no point for her to introduce herself as he had greeted her with her name.

"Nice to meet you" she smiled kindly, "I'm here to meet with Ryder?"

"Likewise" he replied, "second door on your left, the one with the pretty blond" he stated.

"Thanks" she said as he let go of her hand.

She walked towards the blond man, "Tris Prior for Ryder" she said.

He nodded before standing up and knocking on the door behind him. There was a soft "yes?" heard from the other side which led to the blond man to open the door.

"Tris Prior is here for you, sir" he announced.

"Let her in" the voice inside ordered.

The blond man nodded and turned back to Tris, he gestured for her to go in and closed the door behind her once she was inside.

The dark-haired man behind the desk stood up, "Hello, I'm Ryder" he greeted her as he held his hand out for her.

"Tris" she stated, shaking his hand.

"Yes, you are top of your class. Therefore, you get first pick" he gestured for her to sit which she did. "Usually, top of the class also gets offered a position in Leadership" he stated as he sat back in his seat.

"Aren't all the position filled right now?" she stated.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you can not go through the Leader-in-training program. I know Rebekah is close to retirement though that may take a few months to a couple years before she actually steps down" he answered, "but it would prevent having to train you in a rush in the eventuality that she does step down."

"Which means?" she asked.

"Once you go through the Leader-in-training program, you will be able to take up an assistant position which if you haven't notice, we have a spot available" he stated.

"Eric" she stated, "I don't think he likes me very much."

"Eric doesn't like anyone" he replied.

"True" she chuckled. She leaned back into the chair and crossed her arms over her chest, "Is there any other jobs available?" she asked.

"Well, like I said, you have first pick" he said as he turned on his tablet that sat in front of him. "There are available spots in the shops, the kitchen, the control room, at the Fence…"

"What about Ambassador?" she interrupted him.

"Ambassador?" he questioned, surprised.

"Yes, I'm sure my background as an Abnegation transfer will be helpful in that domain" she stated.

"Let me check…" he said as he typed something in his tablet. "All positions are filled at the moment, but I can put your name on the waiting list and as soon as a position opens up, we can put you through training and assign you a faction" he continued after a moment. "If you go through the Leader-in-training program for the time being, it will help you establish a contact with each faction and will help you in the eventuality of your position as Ambassador" he explained.

"And if I do, I will have a job right away" she stated.

He nodded.

"But if I simply wait for an opening as Ambassador, I will be jobless until there is one?" she asked.

"Exactly" he answered. He sighed, "If you take the job as Eric's assistant, that also means that you will be assigned living quarters on the Leadership floors. In the eventuality that there is an opening in the Ambassador positions, you will be moved to the Ambassador floor."

"That's fine by me" she said.

He nodded.

She took a deep breath in, "I will go through the Leader-in-training program and work as Eric's assistant until there is an opening as Ambassador" she stated. "I will work as Ambassador until there is an opening in Leadership if it so happens that the position in Leadership opens up before the one in the Embassy then I will take the Leadership over the other."

"Duly noted" he simply replied.

He typed something in his tablet and she waited patiently as he seemed to handle the paperwork that came with her decision.

"How many people are giving the opportunity to do the Leader-in-training program?" she asked, curious.

"Only the top three of each Initiation class" he answered, absentmindedly. "Both you and Uriah Pedrad will be asked to join the program, but only one of you will be become leader."

She nodded.

"Alright, everything is set up. You are to report here on Monday morning. For now, report to Residence, they will give you the code to your new apartment. Then, report to HR who will give you your tablet and phone" he said. He stood up and shook her hand once more, "You are an official member of Dauntless. Congratulations."

"Thank you" she replied as she shook his hand again.

With that said and done, she made her way out of his office and headed down for lunch in the cafeteria.

 _Present Day…_

"Good morning, sir" Tris greeted the Head Leader as he passed by her desk on his way to his office at the end of the corridor.

"Good morning, Tris" Max greeted back with a small nod in her direction. "How are you today, darling?" he asked, stopping briefly in front of her desk.

As usual, Tris was the first one her which was unsurprising to him. At least, not anymore…

Though she seemed to have made friends throughout her initiation and seemed to stay in contact with them, he barely has seen her at any of the numerous parties held in the Pit while he had seen her friends attend many of them. He had seen her eat with them once in a while, but she seemed to prefer either eating in her own apartment or at her desk. The only time he had seen her in the cafeteria since she finished the Leader-in-training program and became Eric's assistant was either when Eric of all people forced her to go in the cafeteria for lunch or dinner. She usually either sat with the rest of Leadership or sat with her friends, but when she did, she did not stay long.

Somehow, he suspected the fact that Four had fallen hard for her yet she did not reciprocate to be the cause of her avoiding eating with her friends as much as she could.

"Very well, and you?" she replied back.

"Very well" he answered.

He gave her a smile before continuing his way towards his office as he reached his door and fished his keys out of his pockets, he turned back to the young woman.

"Tris?" He waited for her to look up at him, "I have a favour to ask you" he stated.

Though he could simply ask his own assistant who has yet showed his face that morning, he simply gave the task to her which had become uncommon of him to do. He had realized a long time ago that he would have much preferred Tris as an assistant than the one he already had who had no future in Leadership unlike the other assistants. Or, maybe it was because she was always the first one to show up every morning and quickly finished her tasks of the day to the point that she was always the first one to leave out of all the assistants.

"I need you to send out a summon to all members of Leadership for a meeting about the upcoming Aptitude Test day, Choosing Ceremony and Initiation" he said, "this also means that you must send a separate email to members who tend to take up jobs throughout this time of the year" he added.

She looked up at him, "Which are?" she asked.

"Off the top of my head… Tori, Jessica and Nellie usually volunteer for the Aptitude Tests and Four and Lauren handle Initiation. Of course, if I remember correctly your friends Lynn and Uriah have volunteered for Initiation as well" he answered.

"Anything else, sir?" She asked as she finished writing down the names.

"No, that will be all" he smiled.

She nodded and went back to her work. He finally unlocked his door and stepped inside. Though it was not really any of his business, he worried about her.

Tris quickly finished her previous task before powering up her computer and drafting an email which she sent to Max for approval which she quickly received which meant that he was probably just starting on checking on his emails. She quickly sent out the email to the people on the list, putting all the assistants in CC.

She sat back in her chair for a brief moment, relaxing before finding another task to do.

"Why are you the one sending out the summons and not Terrence?" Eric greeted her, nearly an hour after her encounter with the Head Leader.

"Max gave me the task so I did it" she simply replied, barely looking up from the document she was reading.

Eric smirked, "I swear he is trying to steal my assistant" he joked as he leaned her desk, earning a snort from her.

He watched her as she completely ignored him, too concentrated on her task at hand.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked.

"Promise me you are not going to take his offer" he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He hasn't offered me anything" she replied absentmindedly, her eyes still on the document.

"Not yet" he replied back with a smirk.

She finally looked up at him, "why would you care if I moved at the end of the hallway?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"Because until I find someone else that I can stand, you are stuck with me" he answered.

"Then I'll be stuck here forever" she replied.

"Exactly" he stated which earned him an eye roll from her, "I'll only accept your resignation if there is an opening in Leadership" he continued.

"What if there's an opening in the Embassy first?" She asked, entertaining him.

"Nope only in Leadership" he answered.

She simply rolled her eyes at him again before turning back to her document. There was four other assistants besides her, all of them had seniority over her, therefore, they would be picked for the job way before she would ever be picked. Or, at least that is what she thought as the Leaders had only her go through the Leader-in-training program meaning that she was already ready for a position in Leadership and they were not. She did not know that because she barely interacted with them outside of work.

Eric sigh brought her back to reality, she looked up at him again.

"I will be most likely tasked with overseeing Initiation again this year" he said, "this means that you will have more responsibilities because you will be replacing me in office whenever I am with the initiates" he continued, "I need you to take this seriously because this is a test screaming Rebekah" he added.

"Why would Rebekah want to test me?" She asked.

"She wants to make sure that you are fit to replace her in office" he answered.

"Are the other assistants getting the same test?" She questioned.

"No" he simply answered before pulling himself away from her desk and walking to his door, "Max already nominated you as a candidate, it was backed up by both me and Ryder. Both Rebekah and Fallon have yet to nominate candidates for the job so it is basically yours once Rebekah steps down" he explained.

She looked at him, shocked.

For once since she has taken this job, she was speechless.

"Do us proud" he added before closing his door behind him.

 _Three days later…_

The Head Leader sat at the head of the conference table, Rebekah and Fallon to his right side, Ryder and Eric on the other, and Tori in front of him. She had Four and Nellie sitting next to the girls and Jessica and Lauren next to the boys. All five assistants were in the room, sitting behind the Leader they worked for, silently taking notes on their tablets.

"So we are agreed that the roles have not changed from last year?" Max asked.

Everyone around the table gave a simple nod of approval.

"Then we move to the next subject, Eric?"

Everyone watched as Tris silently stood up and placed her tablet in Eric's opened hand.

"According to the statistics Tris has found, we are now entering the generation of the baby boomers" he stated, "for the next five to ten years, we are to experience a larger amount of dependants going through the Aptitude Test, the Choosing Ceremony and Initiation" he explained.

"Which means?" Rebekah demanded.

"Well, Tris can explained that better than I can" he simply said, handing the tablet back to his assistant.

Tris looked at him with wide eyes, assistants never speak during meetings. They are only there as shadows to the Leaders they served.

"Tris?" Max called, he gestured for her to take the floor.

She cleared her throat before speaking, "Last year, there were around fifteen Dauntless-born to go through the whole process of choosing their faction. Ten of them chose Dauntless. Five of them defected. This year, we have twenty-five dependants going through the same process and since we are not there yet, we have no idea who will stay and who will defect" she explained.

"Have you checked the other factions?" Fallon asked. "About how many dependents are of age for the choosing?"

She nodded, "Erudite has twenty dependants as opposed to twelve last year. Candor has twenty-three as opposed to seventeen. Amity has nineteen as opposed to eleven and finally, Abnegation has twenty-three as opposed to eleven last year" she answered. "That's forty-four more dependants than last year" she concluded.

"The Dauntless-born dormitory can accommodate twenty-five if needed" Lauren pitched in.

Max nodded. "It's the transfers we need to predict" he stated as he scratched his chin as he always did whenever he was thinking.

"I'm sure we can easily predict transfers from Amity, Candor and Erudite, however, we have had only three transfers from Abnegation in the last decade so it will be hard to predict if we will have any this year" Ryder stated.

All eyes fell towards the Abnegation transfers in the room.

"Don't look at me, the choosing dependents would have been around five or six years old when I defected so I don't think I paid too much attention to them at the time" Jessica immediately argued.

"I know a few, but I know most if not all will stay in Abnegation or defect to Amity" Tris added.

Practically everyone turned to Four who had barely spoke throughout the meeting unless he was expected to answer a question. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"I know one" he simply stated, he took a deep breath in before continuing, "I know she will defect, I don't know to which faction though" he added.

Out of curiosity, Tris quickly typed "Eaton" into the search bar of the city's database, four names quickly popped up; one was sitting in this room, the other was marked as deceased, the third had already chosen his faction and was the current leader of said faction and the final one… was of age.

"Natalia Eaton, age 16. Faction of birth: Abnegation. Faction of choosing: Undecided. Status: alive" Tris read out loud, earning herself a glare from Four.

"Even then" Eric said, crossing his arms over his chest, "that proves nothing" he added.

Four's glare switched over to him before going back to crossing his arms over his chest, a position he had held throughout the entirety of this particular meeting. Truth be told, Tris had been avoiding Four for a while as he grew persistent in his love her though she told him time and time again that she was not ready for such relationship as she wanted to concentrate more on her career than a relationship. The way he looked at her proved that he was not over her rejection that happened nearly a year ago. Sure, they had moment during the Capture the Flag game on the top of the Ferris Wheel. Another when he helped her hiding her divergence by taking her through his fear landscape. They had kissed after it was announced that she had achieved first place on her Initiation Day, but even with all these somewhat romantic in their own way moments, she did not feel much when they had kissed.

For some reason, she had always thought that her first kiss was suppose to be special and yet, it didn't feel as such when it happened.

Not that she had the opportunity to kiss anyone else to compare it to anything else, but still…

"So, this concludes this meeting" Max's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

Tris did not notice that she had zoned out and mentally kicked herself, however, quickly changed her mind when she looked down at her tablet to notice that she had absentmindedly taken notes about the rest of the meeting.

She stood up at the same time as Eric and follow him to the door.

Eric was growing worried about his assistant though he would never tell a soul. She had been easily distracted in the past couple days. He could not help to wonder what was going on in that pretty head of hers…


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters you don't recognize and the plot, the rest belongs to the amazing Veronica Roth**

* * *

I walked through the Factionless sector to the Abnegation sector without any incident.

By the time I get home, the sun had already set and there were no lights in the house so I knew that I was going to be alone for the night once again. My father would never come home early for a last supper with his daughter anyway since he truly believed that I would choose Abnegation tomorrow because I received an Abnegation result in my aptitude test.

I can't wait to see his face tomorrow after I poured my blood on the hot coals that represented Dauntless.

My father's absence was confirmed when I opened the door only to greeted by darkness and quiet.

It made think about how my father believed that I wasn't Divergent like Tobias and that therefore I should get my faction of birth as a result. He hadn't bothered to coach me into what I should pick to get the Abnegation result in the aptitude test because he truly thought that I was normal. I guess I am, but that doesn't explain why I got Dauntless as a result.

Dauntless.

Why?

How?

I am not Divergent. My father originates from Candor, my mother from Erudite so shouldn't I have gotten either if I was going to get another result other than Abnegation? It doesn't make any sense.

Either way I should just let it go and be happy about the fact that this was my last day in Abnegation.

This was my last supper which I almost spent alone if it weren't for the soft knock on my front door that pulled me out of my thoughts.

I quickly wiped my hands on the apron I was wearing and went to answer it.

"Hello, Natalia" Natalie Prior greeted me with a kind smile once the door was opened.

"Mrs. Prior" I greeted. "I was not expecting you this evening" I added as I gestured for her to enter my home.

"My husband has informed me that he and Marcus are staying late at work again" she explained.

"Will you like to join for supper then?" I asked.

"If it's not too much trouble for you, sweetie" she answered.

"Of course not. I have just started on the preparations perhaps you would like to help?" I replied.

"Of course" she replied back with the same kind smile.

Natalie had started coming over soon after her children defected and her husband had started acting selfish. I had helped her clean out her children's bedrooms while Marcus and Andrew were working and during that time, she had learned that I spent most of my time out of school alone in my home so she started coming over to keep me company at every chance she got.

I remember that Beatrice's room had been kept like any other Abnegation dependant's room, plain grey walls with plain grey sheets on the bed and plain grey clothes in the closet. Caleb's room though was another story, we had found books everywhere. Literally everywhere. Most were not part of the list that was mandatory to each student attending school and were about biology, chemistry, nanotech, the different serums and etc.

I was the one who brought them back to the library where he had gotten them.

I nearly had my last dinner alone which wasn't much of a surprise, but Natalie showed up at my door just before I was about to start eating. I always cooked for three people, it was a habit. One portion for my dad, one for Tobias and one for me, the other portions mostly went to the factionless close by. I always ate mine alone if Natalie didn't show up because she was too busy at work.

"How do you feel about this being your last supper in Abnegation?" She asked as she tasked herself with cutting the vegetables.

"How did you...?" I started to ask though I didn't finish my question.

"You gave yourself away when you asked me to teach how to shoot a gun, throw a knife and one-on-one combat" she stated.

"Do you think that our training might have influenced my test results?" I asked.

"Your test results?" she questioned.

"I-I-I..." the lady had told us that we were not suppose to share our test results with anyone.

Though I trusted Natalie, I still wasn't sure if she had started to come around because my father had asked her to so I had always cautious around her.

"Natalia, you know you can trust me" she said putting a hand on my left shoulder which made me automatically flinched.

She immediately pulled away, "Sorry"

"It's okay" I quickly replied, "It's not your fault"

"It's not yours either, sweetie" she replied back.

I sighed and turned back to my task. She did the same.

"Dauntless" I finally told her after a while.

I watched her perk up as she registered what I had just said.

"Really?" she asked. I nodded, "You're going to be free, Natalia, do you realize that?"

"I know, but..." I sighed as I looked away, "I don't want Erudite to start attacking you again" I answered.

"Natalia..." she whispered, putting a hand on my shoulder. This time I didn't flinched, "Don't worry about the reports from Erudite. Worry about initiation, okay?"

Crap. I forgotten about Dauntless initiation.

She obviously saw the look on my face because she chuckled as she let her hand fall to her side again. She went to grab two bowls out of the cupboard and we separated the food into equal portions for the both of us. I took some refreshments for the both of us and poured them into two glasses while she walked into the dining room before following her.

"Tell me about Dauntless initiation again" I demanded as soon as we were both sitting.

She chuckled again, "All right" she replied. "There are three stages..."

-xox-

Tris's POV

"Dauntless, are you sure?" Tobias asked me again at diner.

"Yes, I am 100% sure, Four" I answered _again_.

"I just..." he started to say.

"Can't believe it? It's so unlike your sister?" I suggested.

This was not the first we were having this conversation since I came back from administrating the aptitude test.

"Yeah... Sorry" he replied.

"Look who's back" Christina announced gesturing behind us with her chin.

We both turned at the same time to see Eric walk towards the leadership table. He sat down between Flynn and Harrison.

"I can't believe they're letting him take his position again" Christina commented.

"It was proven that he was being blackmailed by Jeanine" Will stated. "He passed under the truth serum and everyone knows that you can't cheat it"

"Is Jeanine still holding her position then?" I asked, curious.

"It hasn't been decided yet" Will answered.

I nodded and turned back to look at Eric again who sat with his head lowered and was playing with his food as Flynn and Harrison spoke to him. I quickly turned away when he looked up and looked directly at me.

"Do you know what she was blackmailing him with?" I asked Will.

"He has a little sister and a father" Will answered, "Jeanine killed his mother in front of him when he refused to transfer to Dauntless just to be a double agent" he looked around the room before leaning in, "Get this, Eric got both Dauntless and Erudite as a result in his aptitude test. That makes him..."

"Divergent" I finished with him.

He looked at me in surprise, "You know about Divergents?" he questioned.

"Everyone knows that Jeanine has been hunting Divergents, Will" Tobias covered for me.

"Wait, Divergents are real?" Christina asked.

"Well, apparently if Jeanine is willing to kill about a hundred thousand Abnegation for what is suppose to be a myth" Lynn answered with sarcasm in her voice.

"And make about a hundred thousand Dauntless soldiers murderers in the process" Marlene added.

"Divergents are not myths, Mom has been telling us about them for as long as I could remember" Shauna stated to Lynn's attention.

"Oh! Don't start on that crap, Shauna!" Lynn exclaimed, "I do not need to hear about how divergence is a disease and how Divergents will steal you soul!"

"I never said anything about Divergents being able to steal your soul, Lynn. They just can't be trusted because they don't conform. They have loyalty problems because they don't belong in just _one_ faction. Look at Eric! He's Divergent, he got Dauntless and Erudite as a test result and look where that got him!" Shauna said.

Lynn groaned as she passed a hand over her face, "he was being blackmailed, Shauna" she replied.

"You don't know that" Shauna replied back.

"Shauna, I was the escort at Candor" Will intervened calmly, "I was there when he went under the truth serum. No one can resist the truth serum"

"They say that Divergents can resist the serums, Will" Shauna replied.

"Who's they?" Zeke asked.

"The voices in her head" Uriah whispered loudly to him.

It was loud enough for all of us to hear.

"Fuck you, Uri" Shauna replied before throwing him a piece of bread in his face.

"What?" he demanded, "I just find that your talk about Divergents is just exaggerated!"

Uriah seemed to be a little bit to worked up on the subject than he usually was on any other which made even Zeke notice who then put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

Could he be...?

I turned to silently question Tobias who simply shrugs.

"But I don't get it" I said, going back to our first subject, "How can he preach "Faction before blood" when he clearly doesn't apply the saying to his daily routine?"

"That's the thing, none of the factions were _that_ hard on preaching before Jeanine's predecessor came into office" Will answered, "Practically no one heard about Divergents either before him."

"So, he clearly put the idea that Divergents are dangerous in Jeanine's mind" I stated, "And since Jeanine is Leader, she's put it in everyone's mind as well."

"Come to think of it, only Dauntless and Erudite hunted Divergents. I'm pretty sure it's against Abnegation's and Amity's manifesto to hurt someone because of their nature, but I don't know about Candor" Will said.

"Can we please change subject now?" Shauna suddenly asked.

"Why?" Lynn demanded, "It's actually an interesting subject for once."

"Well, I don't feel comfortable with it" Shauna replied.

"Nobody is forcing you to be here and listen to Will and Tris talk" Christina replied back.

Shauna shrugged and went to back eating her food.

"So, who were talking about as you sat down earlier?" Will asked, effectively changing the subject.

"My sister" Tobias answered before I could even react.

"Wait, you have a sister?" Zeke questioned, stunned by this revelation.

"Yeah, I do" Tobias answered.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Zeke asked, clearly shocked.

"Because the subject never came up...?" Tobias answered, hesitantly.

"Um... I'm pretty sure it came up several times in the past three years, Four" Shauna stated.

"Yeah. Well, I don't like talking about my family that much" Tobias replied.

"Yeah, we got that, but why haven't you mentioned your sister before?" Zeke asked.

"Is she some soul eating Divergent?" Lynn joked.

"Fuck you, Lynn" Shauna replied, throwing her a piece of bread in the face too.

"Will you stop wasting good food?" Lynn exclaimed.

"The bread is dry" Shauna replied.

"Your bread is dry. The Divergents in the kitchen made sure you'd get that piece because you won't stop talking shit about them" Lynn replied back.

"Oh, Lynn, why did you mention the Divergents in the kitchen? Now she'll refuse to eat here ever again" Zeke whined.

"Okay, I'm done" Shauna announced as she got up, "And go to Hell, Zeke" she added as she picked up her tray and walked away from the table.

We all watched her as she dump the remaining contents into the trash can and threw the now empty tray onto the rack before walking out the dining hall.

"Shouldn't be going after your girlfriend?" Will questioned Zeke.

Zeke waved him off, "Nah, it's just her time of the month. She'll get over it" he replied.

I glanced at the remaining girls left and the four of us all threw our piece of bread towards Zeke's face at the same time.

"What was that for?!" he exclaimed.

"That's for assuming that Shauna is menstruating because she's pissed off!" Lynn answered.

"But she is!" he replied.

"That doesn't mean she's angry because she is!" Christina replied back.

"Whatever!" was the only reply Zeke could come up with which everyone at our table laugh.

"So, your sister got a Dauntless result?" Will asked. "It must run in the family then" he added.

It has always surprised me how much Will was still an Erudite sometimes despise the tattoos and the piercings he has gotten over the past year.

"Um..." Tobias cleared his throat, "I actually got an... Abnegation result...?" he said hesitantly.

"Really?" Half of the table exclaimed.

"You are like the most Dauntless person I have ever met!" Uriah exclaimed alone.

"Why did you transfer to Dauntless then?" Christina asked at the same time.

"Because I..." Tobias took a deep breath as he wiped his hands on his dark washed jeans, "Because I'm Marcus Eaton's son" he announced without looking at anyone, he was avoiding eye contact with everyone on our table.

Our table fell silent for a moment as they all processed the information.

"Does that mean...?" Will was the first one to react, "The reports...? Are they true?" he asked.

Tobias nodded.

"Then why are you telling us this now?" Marlene questioned.

"Because I can't exactly hide who I am with my sister roaming around the compound" he answered, "the truth was going to come out sooner or later even though I was hoping for never" he added.

"Your sister... Did she...?" I tried to ask though I couldn't seem to formulate a full question.

"I took all the punishments that were hers when I lived there, but I don't know if he stopped after I left or if it..." he gulped as he continued to wipe his hands on his jeans, "gotten worst..."

"Punishments? I thought Abnegation were too selfless to give out punishments" Will said.

"Marcus Eaton is a coward and is far from being selfless" Tobias replied.

"Then he must be good at faking it if he's leader" Zeke stated.

Tobias shook his head though it seemed more like he was trying to shake off the memories than to reply negatively to Zeke's statement.

"He is a fucking good actor" Tobias agreed, "And that's why I haven't able to get in contact with my sister for the past three years. I wasn't even sure she was still alive until today" he passed a hand through his hair, "she is so going to hate me..."

-xox-

Talia's POV

"Will you cut my hair?" I asked timidly to my father the morning of the Choosing Ceremony from the doorway of his room.

He looked up at me and smiled, "Of course" he answered as he continued to struggle with his tie.

"You're doing it wrong" I stated as I stepped into his room and approached him.

He let go of his tie and lifted his hands up in surrender as I stopped in front of him.

"How will I survive without you doing my tie every morning for me?" He whispered as he watched me do his tie for him.

His question made me stop dead on my tracks, "How...?" I began to ask.

"I'm not stupid, Natalia" he interrupted calmly, "I know you didn't get an Abnegation result and I know that you don't belong in Abnegation either."

"Are you mad?" I asked going back to my task "Are you mad that yet another one of your children is going to abandoned you?"

"I don't deserve to have the both of you here" he answered, "not after the way I have treated the both of you."

"Are you admitting to your wrongdoing?" I asked, confused.

"Don't push it, Natalia" he simply replied.

I nodded and lowered my head as I finished my task.

The rest of the morning past slowly and in silence. For the first time since Tobias had left, Marcus actually touch my hair and cut it to the proper length before putting it into a bun. I don't know why I had asked my father to cut it when I knew that I wasn't staying, but I did.

After he did, I quickly prepared a small breakfast for the both of us before we left.

Natalie said that she would be there at the Choosing Ceremony to see me off, but she also said that I would only see her there because she had things to attend to before the Ceremony. I hope she would make it before they called my name though.

Father and I walked in silence to the bus stop. Neither of us saying a word on the bus either or the walk up to the room where the ceremony was to be held.

It felt odd to be walking up those stairs without my brother since the last time I had been here was for him. I wonder if he would show up this year just to see me choose or at least to say hi just in case I didn't chose Dauntless like my test result told me to do.

Who am I kidding?

He hasn't bothered to find a way to tell me that he's alive. Why would he bother to come to the Choosing Ceremony now?


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters you don't recognize and the plot, the rest belongs to the amazing Veronica Roth**

* * *

Tris's POV

The morning of the Choosing Ceremony, we had all debated on who was going and who was not.

Lynn was replacing Lauren who had gone on maternity leave about a month ago. Christina was helping Lynn out with the Dauntless-born and since Christina didn't mind staying behind, Lynn decided to come. Zeke, Shauna and Marlene had work so they could only come and see the initiates once they had jumped the net, so they stayed behind. Uriah and Will had their day off so they decided to come.

Tobias, on the other hand, was hesitant. He, of course, wanted to see his sister one last time just in case she decided not to transfer to Dauntless, but didn't want to risk seeing his father either.

In the end, he was the one to go to the Choosing Ceremony with Uriah, Will and Lynn and I was the one who stayed behind to welcome the initiates. Though Tobias and Lynn would be by the net before the first initiate jumped, Christina and I had decided to stay behind just in case.

"I'm scared" Tobias admitted as we walked together towards the train tracks after breakfast.

I was accompanying him to the tracks to see him off before going into the office to get some work done before the initiates arrived.

"Don't worry, Tobias" I replied, "You don't have to go if you don't want to" I continued as I put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know, but I don't want my sister to think that I have abandoned like I am sure Marcus led her to believe" he sighed and shook his head, "She needs to know that I have tried everything to come in contact with her just in case she doesn't transfer to Dauntless."

"Then go tell her" I encouraged.

He smiled down at me and placed a chaste kiss on my lips before the train came and he jumped on it.

"Do you really think she'll choose Dauntless?" Christina asked me as we both looked at the train heading towards the city.

"I just know her results, I don't know what she's thinking" I replied.

"I hope for her sake and for Four's that she does" Christina said.

I turned to look at her and gave her a small smile as the train disappeared from our view, "I hope so too" I agreed.

We turned to walk back to the compound.

"So, how do you feel about possibly meeting your sister-in-law?" Christina asked.

"Four and I need to be married to think of her as my sister-in-law" I answered.

"But she's still your boyfriend's little sister" Christina stated.

"I know that" I replied.

"And she probably knows more Four than you do too" she continued.

"I know that" I repeated.

"Do you think she'll tell us embarrassing stories about Four's childhood if we asked her?" she asked.

"I don't know, Chris. Do you even think they had a good enough childhood to actually have embarrassing stories to tell?" I answered.

"Oh right plus they had an Abnegation childhood so it must have been quite boring" she replied.

"My childhood wasn't _that_ boring" I argued.

"Girl, you never tasted a hamburger before you came here. Your childhood was boring" she joked.

I chuckled and rolled my eyes at her, "Okay, fine. It was the funnest, but it wasn't the most boring either" I replied.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that" she smiled as she put an arm around my shoulders, "whatever makes you sleep better at night."

I rolled my eyes at her.

-xox-

Talia's POV

"Natalia!" I heard someone unfamiliar call my name as I walked down the stairs between the Dauntless and Erudite sector of the room to go find my seat that was suppose to be at the front row of the room.

Father had stayed behind in the staircase to hold the door open for those who were coming through like the perfect Abnegation he pretends he is.

I turned towards the direction I had heard my name being called, the Dauntless sector. I was confused, I didn't know anyone except for maybe Beatrice and my brother, but that didn't sound like my brother's voice. Then again, the last time I had heard his voice, he had just turned sixteen and was about to pour his blood on the hot coals that represented Dauntless like I was about to do today.

"Natalia!" I heard the same voice call me again and this time I spotted the man who called it.

He was waving at me and he look so familiar, but not really at the same time and he seemed to notice my confused expression as he stood up and hurried to join me where I stood.

"Natalia" he greeted as he came to a stop before me.

"Do I know you?" I asked, confused at who this man could be.

He looked hurt at my question, but still answered, "It's me, Talia. It's Tobias" he said.

"Tobias?" I repeated though it sounded more like a question.

Yes, he had the same blue eyes and brown hair as my brother, but my brother did not walked in a confident step with his head held up like this man. He did not have muscles either, but then again, my brother had been part of Dauntless for the past three years and three simple years can change a person. A lot.

"Yes" he answered.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words could come out.

I was speechless.

Was this man truly my brother?

"Talia, I tried to contact you many times in the last three years" he explained, "Did you get any of the notes I left for you?"

I gulped as I shook my head, "No, I didn't even know you were still alive" I answered.

"I wasn't sure you were either" he stated. "I wasn't sure until Tris told me that she had administer the aptitude test to you yesterday."

"Tris? You mean Beatrice, Natalie's daughter?" I asked.

He nodded. "I would have gone factionless and come to beg you to join me if it weren't for her" he stated.

"I would have said yes if I had gotten an Abnegation result" I said.

"But you didn't" he stated.

I shook my head, "No, I didn't" I replied. "and you're not factionless either."

"No, I'm not" he simply said.

I gave him a small nod before looking around the room only to notice that almost everyone was seated now.

"I best go find my seat" I stated.

"I'll see you soon then" he replied.

I smiled, "Yes" I simply said before turning away from him and continuing my way towards the front row.

This year was Candor's turn to host the ceremony.

Jack Kang, the leader of Candor, stepped onto the podium as soon as I was seated as if he had been waiting for me.

"Welcome" his voice boomed through the room, silencing everyone in one shot, "I invite everyone to take their seats so that we may begin the Choosing Ceremony" he said and everyone listened. He waited for everyone to be seated before he continued, "Welcome to the Choosing Ceremony where yet another group of sixteen years old come before us to choose the faction they belong to. Before me, I had the five bowls representing our five factions. Glass represents Candor who are honest. Erudite is water and intelligent. Soil is Amity and kind. Grey stones represents Abnegation and their selflessness while the hot coals represents the braveness of the Dauntless faction. Once you choose, there is no going back so choose wisely. You have walked into this room as dependents and once you will walk out, you will be full fledged members of our society. Choose well."

He waited for the room to stop clapping before he called the first name, "Thomas Abernathy"

Thomas was from Candor and chose Candor, all the others that followed him did not transfer.

After a while, I simply blocked out the people that passed before me and waited for my name to be called.

I gasped, I had not noticed that the boy next to me had passed. I tried to remind myself to breathe as I stood up and walked towards the bowls.

I took the knife from the Candor leader who smiled at me and tried to smile back in thanks, but I'm pretty sure I failed.

I barely noticed myself making a small cut in my palm and the little drop of blood already threatening to spill until my hand was over the hot coals.

I glanced at the leader again who was still smiling at me, he gave me a small nod of encouragement. The drop of blood slid down my hand and dropped on the coals while I was still looking at him. I let my arm fall back next to my body.

"Dauntless" he called.

I was surprised that I had actually done it. I had decided to transfer, I had spilled my blood on the coals. I was going to be with my brother again. I was going to be finally free from Marcus, from the abuse, from the looks. I was no longer Abnegation. The only thing left between me and Dauntless was the initiation.

Once I turned back, I saw everyone looking back at me. Looking at what was my old faction, I saw my dad glaring at me, Natalie smiling and the rest looking at me disappointed. I had defected just like my brother, but who were they judge me when they knew nothing about me?

When I looked towards my new faction, they were all cheering and that made me smile. I walked towards them. Looking at the crowd, I quickly caught sight of Tris who smiled at me as she clapped with the rest of Dauntless. I sat down next to the two Dauntless born who had passed before me. That's when I noticed that Dauntless had been the only ones cheering and I hadn't noticed it before because they were so loud that it sounded as if the whole room was cheering.

I also noticed something else; I was the first transfer.

-xox-

The Dauntless are always the first ones out of the Hub and unlike the Abnegation who take the stairs to be selfless, the Dauntless take them as a risk. They also _run_ down the stairs, some of them jump a couple of stairs to get faster. Basically, Dauntless are crazy.

And I like it.

I took a risk and turned to look back at my old faction one last time to get a glimpse at Natalie. I needed to say goodbye to her even if it was from across the room.

I quickly found her through the crowd of Abnegation. Most people think that we all look alike since we wear the grey clothes as everyone else and wear our hair the same too, but I can see the difference between Natalie and the other women in the faction. In a way, Natalie stands out.

"Good luck" she mouthed with a smile on her face.

She was happy for me and that was the only thing that counted right now. I will do everything in my power to pass initiation for the both of us.

I waved at her one last time before turning away and following my new faction to freedom.

For once, I was grateful that Abnegation always left last to help clean up and to let others pass before them. I was grateful this day was the last day that I would see Marcus for the last time or at least I hoped that it was.

Everyone started running down the stairs and shouting. No, they were cheering, they were happy and it was contagious. I smiled, but I didn't join in on the shouting. I saw one person jump over the railing to land on the floor at the end of the staircase. Dauntless were crazy and I liked it.

The sunlight blinded me as I run out of the building. I followed the Dauntless down the street, I was able to follow them easily thanks to my training with Natalie though I am out of breath quickly, but soon enough, I was running besides Tobias.

"Hi" he screamed over the shouting and trumping feet of the others around us.

"Hi" I screamed back, the smile on my face was growing, I could feel it.

Finally, we arrived next to the train tracks and I could hear the train before I could see it. The group around us spread into a long line of black with the occasional blue or white or orange from the other transfer. Each door was opened, waiting for all of us to jump in. I have watched the Dauntless long enough to know what to do next. We had to jump on the train without it stopping.

"Are you ready?" Tobias asked as she started running.

I just simply followed his lead and jumped on the train behind her. Once inside I looked back outside to realize I was the only transfer on the train, yet. The others were still trying to catch it. I sat down on the floor trying to catch my breath, finally I helped one of the Candor transfer who was having trouble getting in.

Gasping for breath, she thanked me breathlessly and sat down next to me. She was a red-headed girl dressed in a Candor white and black suit. She laughed as she kept trying to catch her breath. I took less time than her.

"You all right?" I decided to ask after I regained my own breath.

She nodded, "I'm Ruby" she said, offering her hand for me to shake.

I take her hand and shake it, "Talia" I replied.

"You're the Abnegation representative's daughter, right?" She asked.

I nodded.

"You look a lot like your brother" she stated, "my sister was in his class at school"

I nodded to acknowledge her statement. We fell quiet as Tobias appeared in front of me, he crunched down to our level and smiled at me.

"Natalia" he greeted with a small smirk gracing his lips.

"Tobias" I greeted back, "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I just want to know how you're doing, Pumpkin" he answered, "So, how are you doing?" he asked with the same small smirk gracing his lips.

It was odd to see him smiling like that and now that I think about it, I was pretty sure that I have never seen my brother smiling like that before.

"Good, I guess" I shrugged, "Do you know how many we are?" I asked Ruby, turning to her.

We were the only transfers in this car as far as I could tell.

"Nine, I counted before we left the Hub. I don't know if anyone else has made it yet though" she answered.

"Not everyone makes it the compound" Tobias informed us, "Some don't make it on the train, others on the roof and then there those who don't want to jump off the roof. Then, there is initiation..." he explained.

"Everyone knows that the factionless is composed of those who failed to pass the Dauntless initiation. It is the hardest after all" I stated.

I looked around to see that we were surrounded by Dauntless-born and members in this car. I sighed and leaned my head against the wall, Ruby let her head fall on my shoulder and I didn't have the strength or the will to push her away.

Tobias put his hand on my knee, "Rest up, Pumpkin" he said before standing up and joining other Dauntless members.

I looked up when I felt someone watch me. The man had blond hair and a pierced eyebrow, he looked Dauntless with all the tattoos, but there seemed more to him than just the piercings and the tattoos.

I looked away and closed my eyes as if to rest for a while.

"Hey, wake up" I heard someone order me a little while later.

I wake up to see the guy that was staring at me before I closed my eyes.

"I fell asleep?" I asked stupidly, "sorry stupid question" I said as rubbed my eyes.

He smirked, "We're about to jump, you best wake up and get ready" he said before he stood up and disappeared in the crowd of Dauntless that still surrounded me without another word. That was odd.

I nudged Ruby who still had her head on my shoulder and she immediately sat up, startled by the sudden movement.

"What's going on?" She asked as she rubbed the sleep away from her face.

"We're about to jump" Tobias said as he stood before us once more.

He held out a hand out for me which I took and let him pull me to my feet.

"Thanks" I said as one the guys that was with my brother held his own dark skinned hand for Ruby to take.

"Hi, I'm Uriah" he introduced himself with a smirk.

"Ruby" she replied with a blush forming on her cheeks.

Uriah turned to look at me as he let go of Ruby's hand and held it out for mine.

"Talia" I answered his unasked question as I took his hand in mine and we shook.

"I'm Will" the other man that had been with my brother said, shaking Ruby's hand.

"Ruby" she repeated, blushing again.

That was starting to get annoying.

"We're friends with your brother" Will explained, turning towards me, we shook hands too.

"That explains everything" I replied.

"And I'm Lynn" the girl that accompanied them said as she held out her hand.

I shook it not bothering to repeat my name, she must of heard it.

Suddenly, there was cheering again from the cars in front of ours. I leaned out just in time to see the first person jump onto a roof. We were still too far away to start jumping, but the first cars had started.

"You weren't kidding when you said we had to jump" I called out through the screams that now surrounded us.

I wondered if the Dauntless were always this loud.

I watched as the members of Dauntless all one by one jumped onto the roof until it was our car's turn. My palms were sweaty as I watched the guy who woke me jump first and then Lynn, Uriah and Will. I turned to look at Tobias who grabbed my hand, we stepped back and jumped.

We both lost the grip on each other's hand while we were in the air. I rolled a few times once I landed on the roof, I began to laugh as I pulled myself on my knees. Not so far from me, I heard Ruby join in. She must have jumped after Tobias and I.

Tobias stood up and held his hand out for me to help me up again.

"I'll see you soon" he announced, placing a kiss on forehead.

"Listen up! My name is Max! I am one of the five leaders of your new faction!" A man shouted from the other end of the roof.

He was standing on the ledge with his arms crossed behind his back as he paced back and forth as he spoke.

"Below us is the members' entrance to Dauntless, it's several stories high and as an initiate you have the privilege of going first" he smirked, "Any volunteers?" he asked as he stopped pacing to eye each initiates.

Max, if I wasn't mistaken, was the Head of the Dauntless Leaders. He was also not meant to be part of the Leadership anymore as he was the one who had been working with Jeanine for the planned attack on Abnegation.

"You want us to jump off a ledge?" someone asked, it was probably a transfer judging by the question.

Max looked in the direction where the voice came from, spotting who spoke, he smiled at the boy, "Yes" he answered.

The crowd in front of me split in half making a wide path for the initiates towards the ledge. I looked around to see that Tobias and his friends had disappeared. I sighed as I turned to concentrate on Max again. I was the only one looking at Max as he eyed each initiate.

His eyes fell on me, "What's your name, Stiff?" He asked me.

"Talia" I answered with confidence.

"Well, Talia, the first one to jump last year was a Stiff. Do you wish to continue on that tradition?" He asked.

I crossed my arms and smirked, "Well, if it's tradition mind as well do it" I replied.

He looked amused by my answer and jumped back onto the roof before gesturing me to come forward. I did.

I walked towards the ledge and climbed on it easily. All I could see was a huge hole in the concrete in the middle of the scare that the building I was standing and the three others that surrounded it formed.

"Just out of pure curiosity, Talia" Max said, I turned to look at him, "What's your last name?" he asked.

"Eaton. Talia Eaton" I answered before I jumped.


End file.
